Runaway
by Green Flame Titan
Summary: I couldn't believe the way the book ended so instead i wrote my own ending to it and then a story for what happens afterwards where Shmuel and Bruno escape but you will have to read to find out the rest. i'm not really good at summarizing so please read and review. thank you for taking the time to read this.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Bruno Heaved grabbing at the fence, his hands wrapped around the wire as he lifted it. He had heard gun shots in the distance and watched as one of the men in pyjamas had fallen to the ground lying still but what was most scary was the fact that the soldier who stood over the man held a wicked grin on his face which mirrored the darkness of his eyes; Bruno's father. "Hurry Shmuel!" he gasped as his small friend began clawing under the small opening which had been created then as he finally made it through Bruno reached out pulling his small friend to his feet. Then a bang headed towards them and Bruno dropped the clothes he had come to the fence in and ran in his pyjamas.

He didn't look back as he heard more bangs and sounds of gun shots. The sound got closer and closer, "Shmuel go on! Run!" he screamed as he pushed him in front as they ducked in and out of the mass amount of trees but it was no use, Shmuel was to small and weak, his legs tried to keep up but he just wasn't that fast!

He frantically ran holding the hand of the best friend he had ever made until Bruno fell and the sound of bangs came at him.

"NO!" he screamed as his eyes flashed open and he sat up in a bed panting for breath, "I thought I had forgotten this." He held his hands to his face as tears began forming at the edge of his eyes. That had been so long ago but yet he never forgot that nightmare of a day, the day he realised what that place was.

He swung his legs out of bed and looked around the small dark room, he had a large enough bed for someone his age, "Six years and still." He slowed down his breathing as sweat dripped from his hair onto his bare legs, from the room next to him he could hear banging on the wall and faint whimpers.

It had been six years. Six years since he had pulled Shmuel from the fence and yet… that place stuck in both their minds like dark parasites but Bruno had gotten used to this routine now; waking up in the middle of the night just before his friend did. He wondered out into the dark hallways and walked straight into Shmuels room.

His poor friend had started screaming and tossing in his sleep to the point Bruno lay next to him with a protective arm around him, "its okay. It's okay." He cooed rocking him slightly, "It's just a dream, it can't hurt you." He reassured himself just as much as he was trying to reassure the poor boy.

"Big Brother." Shmuel whimpered and Bruno smiled tiredly. It was true; they had become brothers, if not by blood then by bond.

Shmuels eyes opened, however scared he looked then, now with his eyes opened with tears clouding them he looked at the point of breaking, "I dreamt it again… the c-"

"Don't." Bruno hugged him and lay down next to him as his little brother lent in looking for comfort in his moment of fear, "The allies have cleared them out now."

"But what about Papa?" his voice held such hope. It broke Bruno's heart when he thought about Shmuel's father. Deep down both knew what had become of him but Bruno had been the only one able to open up and accept the fact.

"Try not to think about it." He hushed his voice so it was soft like the wind which came and cooled both boys after waking up from such fright; he smiled when Shmuel had begun snoring lightly. The fact that sleeping next to his brother calmed him just as it did the other.

I wonder whether they care if I have gone. He wondered but then frowned, "What does it matter!" he scolded himself, "No I'm not German." He and Shmuel had learnt perfect English with an American accent as they watched and listened to the soldiers who come by each day as they hid in their small abandoned cottage, "I'm not part of that family any more. My family is here." He hugged his little brother closely as his eyes began to close.

When he woke he groaned as his head began to ache and his eyes burned from little sleep, "What time is it." He muttered but as he turned to roll over to Shmuel he kept rolling until he fell out the bed and onto the floor with a thud, "OW!" he growled and he muttered a few words that he saved especially just for his own father.

As he rubbed his head and stumbled down the stairs he could smell the delicious sent of fresh bread from the kitchen then when he saw his little brother with a fresh loaf just out the oven he beamed, "You never told me you was into cooking." He laughed softly and Shmuel's face went red.

"Well someone has got to keep us fed." Bruno's eyes wondered over to the counter where a news paper rested on the page of people who had been pulled from the camp.

"Any news?" but he just shook his head and hid his face until he took a shaky breath and forced a smile onto his face.

As he placed the fresh bread on the table poor Shmuel could help but let one tear fall, Bruno thankfully was blissfully unaware of it as he shoved a slice in his mouth and closed his eyes mumbling with satisfaction, "Chew it don't choke on it." Shmuel burst out laughing as he took a seat opposite his brother.

His eyes rested on his brother's shoulder looking at an exposed bright bit of skin, "Does it still hurt?" he asked quietly and regretted it almost instantly. Bruno moved his shoulder slowly and pulled on a shirt to hide his scar which had been dealt to him by the one man he hated more than kotler.

"Not as much this morning." He lied and Shmuel narrowed his eyes.

"Bruno."

"It's not honestly." He tried to smile.

"Bruno!" Shmuel sighed.

"Okay! Only a little." He admitted.

"Sleeping a bed that is too small for you will do that." Shmuel sighed though truthfully he wouldn't have been able to get back to sleep without his brother there to calm him down. "You have been having nightmares as well haven't you?"

"Shmuel…"

"Bruno you have to talk about it at some point! You can't just keep everything bottled up! You're going to make yourself sick!" His eyes looked back at Shmuel with animal wildness and he eased up a bit, "I just worry about you big brother." He sighed.

Bruno found this almost ironic. That the one who had suffered greater and longer than him was more worried about him hurting than anything else, "Shmuel, I'm fine." He smiled, "Honestly. It's just that-"

"You are thinking about your father aren't you?" that seemed to quiet him, the look of fear on his brothers face brought him back as he held out his arms to hug him and Shmuel willingly complied.

"You could always go back and face him." oh, Bruno's poor, sweet little brother, he is to kind for someone who has suffered what he has.

"And what would I say; Dad I've been on the run for six years, ever since you tried to kill me and my brother and after you massacred all those people." He frowned and closed his eyes, he had been in that camp for about a day but he remembered what happened.

Shmuel shook his head and went to his room grabbing his bag; he often now wore a golden necklace to think of his family though where he was going now he knew that it would be a danger to wear it. With a comforting and reassuring kiss he placed it in a locked draw, "Bruno." He shouted down the stairs, "Pack you bags or I will." A few seconds later his brother appeared in the doorway with a wild look in his eyes as his hair fell In front of his face.

"Shmuel. No." he growled.

"You're going to find your mother." He had learnt from his time in hell that as well as his caring side he had a strong defiant side to match, "Now I mean it Bruno. Pack your bags or I will." He grinned.


	2. Chapter 2

"This is such a stupid idea." Bruno growled. He was still fuming his brother was making him do this; he had never wanted to set eyes back on this wretched place for as long as he lived!

"Suck it up." Shmuel grinned as he looked at the tall towering house which was coming into view; a large tool dark building which was now over grown by vines. It was not how Bruno had remembered it. It looked as though a bomb had hit it… that thought made him grin.

With his bag slung over his shoulder Shmuel stepped forward, "this is where you lived?" he stared at his big brother.

"This was my prison." He muttered before walking up the long path.

With each step, dread slowed him down. "I'm not sure they will even recognise me now." He whispered but Shmuel just kept that optimistic smile, how could he of all people still be smiling? "I still hate him."

"Bruno." Shmuel sighed, "You can't let hate take over you."

But Bruno didn't hear him.

He had come to a complete stop as a dark figure stood in the doorway staring at him.

A man slowly walked forward. He looked aged and tired as though every muscle in his body had been used and given up. This was Bruno's father.

Bruno had sat and thought for years what would be the first thing he said to his father. He had planned with Shmuel to keep calm and not do anything and let his father make the first move.

That's probably the only part of their plan that Bruno kept to.

As his father walked slowly forward with shaky glass eyes Bruno could feel writhing around inside him like a hungry serpent. "M-my boy." His father stared unbelievingly at him as though he was an illusion about to dissipate on the wind.

But as soon as his hand touched Bruno's shoulder, exactly on the place where his father's bullet had pierced him, he flinched away violently. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" he screamed and brought up to his father but having the reflexes of a 'soldier' caught his son's fist easily as though it was a reflex, "Six years."

"The best six years of my life." He snarled and Shmuel stepped forward pulling Bruno back.

"You?" his father snarled as he stared at him and the marks on his arm.

"Yes him." Bruno slowly moved the side of his shirt down so his father saw the bullet marks, "He made away with another. Or did you not notice that while you shot down Shmuel's Papa."

A dark silence passed between them until Bruno's father turned back and walked inside. "We should go."

"Bruno." Shmuel's eyes were almost broken as he holding back the tide of tears, "We are not here for you to make up with your father. We both knew you would never forgive him for his deeds. But do not punish your mother for his actions."

Shmuel had lost everything. In the few words Bruno had spoken. He had lost all hope he had been burdening to cold hard facts. He slowly followed in the steps of his big brother, making sure not to meet his caring looks.

"She will be down soon." Came that stone cold voice of Bruno's father again and Shmuel allowed himself a quick glance. _I hate you_. He thought. _I hate you more than my own life. I knew you had killed him but denial was stronger than me but I won't allow you to infect Bruno with this hatred as well._

"Well, well."

Both boys looked up with something beyond hatred reining inside their eyes; it was a loathing no other person could understand.

Kotler.

Bruno grabbed Shmuel's hand reassuringly as now every ounce of concentration went into him holding back his tears. The countless beatings he had suffered, being attacked by Kotler for no other reason than him being Jewish. _This was wrong._ Shmuel thought, _we were wrong to come here._

"What are you doing here." He stepped forward to hit Shmuel but Bruno was faster than he looked and Kotler wasn't expecting what happened next.

Bruno smashed his fist full force into Kotler's ugly face. He staggered back but not before Bruno got another good shot by adding a kick right between Kotler's legs.

"You bastard!" he gasped on the floor but Bruno grinned.

"The punch was for beating Shmuel. The kick was for making my life hell and hurting Pavel." He added one last kick for emphasis and broke Kotler's nose, "And that was for every Jewish person that was in that camp!" Kotler moved his hand to his waist but before he could pull his gun Bruno stamped down on his hand and the gun skidded over to Shmuel's feet before he kicked it out of the house.

"Bruno that is enough!" his father's voice barked but was then silenced as a new pair of footsteps came down the stairs to reveal a woman who must have been Bruno's mother.

_She looks just the same._ Bruno stared at her as she slowly walked towards him and laid a hand on the side of his face as though she was checking he was really there. "Are you…" tears took the edges of her eyes and he slowly nodded. They were the same height now. Had he really grown so much over the last years?

"It's me mom." Her arms locked around him as she wept into his shoulder and he looked over to his father with hatred filled eyes. "It's me mom. _Your_, son." He watched as his father reacted the way he wanted and stormed out of the house.

_Oh Bruno._ Shmuel shook his head and watched as his brother couldn't meet his gaze, _please… don't let him do it to you as well._

But Bruno had been filling his heart with hate for to long just like Shmuel. Both boys knew that they couldn't really fit in with this family.

"I'm sorry mom." Bruno stepped back as she tried reaching for him again but he grabbed Shmuel's hand and pulled him out the door while his mother wept, "I don't belong here any more. I belong with those who have suffered and who I can help."

_But Bruno._ Shmuel sighed as his thoughts were getting too crowded, _you cannot help others until you have sorted your own heart._

Both trudged back along the path into the dark road.

* * *

**i'm sorry that this chapter is so bad its just. been dealing with a lot of problems that are just making everything difficult for me recently and not sure if i am going to carry any of this on anymore, thinking about just stopping writing. i'm not sure if people are enjoying my stories any way. i might update O might not. I just want to say thank you to the reviews that have been made but I just don't know any more if I can carry on writing. I'm sorry.**


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